Ways to Relax Your Muscles After Gym Workout

You’ve just completed your workout and are really feeling the tension in your muscles. You congratulate yourself on how hard you worked and dream about how much stronger you’ll be as a result.
What you’re forgetting, however, is the second key component of a great workout: muscle relaxation. Not only do you need to stimulate your muscles to grow, you must also provide them with enough rest and relaxation to heal and repair themselves so they will grow stronger.

Following are 12 ways to relax your muscles after a workout.
1. Breathing
This technique is best performed during the cool down or stretching component of your workout, or before you go to bed at night. Focus on controlling your breathing; take slow, deep breaths on a 4:4 second count, in and out. As you exhale, imagine all the tension and negative energy slowly moving out of your body. Feel your muscles relaxing and, if you are lying in bed, growing heavier. Work your way through your entire body, focusing on relaxing one muscle group at a time.

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Breathing this way will help to increase your mind-body awareness and focus your energy on muscle relaxation.
2. Stretching
This frequently neglected part of your workout is critical for promoting recovery and decreasing muscle stiffness. Perform these exercises right after your workout when your muscles are at their warmest and most limber.

Hold each stretch for a count of 15 to 30 seconds, pushing yourself until you feel a good pull in your muscle without any significant amount of pain. A few great stretches are:
Hamstring stretch: Stand or sit and try to touch your toes.

Quadriceps stretch: Bending one leg at the knee and holding your foot behind you, slowly pull your knee backward.
Oblique stretch: Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, lean over to one side, letting your hand slide down the side of your leg, and repeat on the other side.
Tricep stretch: Extend one arm over your head, bend it at the elbow and gently push that arm behind your head with your other hand.
Calf stretch: Find a step and place your foot so the back half is hanging off. Then, slowly put your weight on your leg and lower your heel until your calf muscle feels a slight pull.
Back stretch: Kneel on the floor and stretch your arms as far forward as you can. Round your back while doing the motion to release any built-up tension in your back muscles.
By including these stretches in your workout, you will increase your range of motion, thus allowing you to target more muscle fibers during your strength training.
Getting a good night’s sleep, properly planning your workout schedule, and more techniques to help you relax those tense muscles 3. Sleeping
Who doesn’t love a good night’s sleep? Not only is sleep important for your mental functioning, but it also provides your muscles with much-needed rest and regeneration time. Skimping out on sleep not only reduces your rate of recovery, it also increases stress levels in your body (due to an increased release of cortisol), making your muscles tight and tense.

Aim for at least seven hours of sleep every night, and if your schedule allows it, take a 20-minute power nap in the afternoon.
4. Hanging Upside Down
It may seem like an unconventional way to get your muscles to relax, but by allowing gravity to do its work, you can achieve a deeper state of relaxation. After you have completed your workout, find a bar that you can reach comfortably, lift your knees and wrap them around the bar. Then, slowly release your arms and let yourself hang for a minute.

Concentrate on completely releasing any tension in your muscles and letting gravity pull you downward. Do not stay in this position for an extended period of time, however, as excess blood accumulation in the head can cause many health concerns.

5. Proper Periodization
No matter how much effort you put into your workouts, if your routine is not properly planned, you won’t recover optimally and……………………….